Persuasive Writing Topics for Creative Thinking!

I've included prompts meant to be highly debatable. The topics for persuasive writing can be argued successfully from either side of the debate. All the topics for persuasive writing are followed by suggested Pros and Cons lists, which students can use in developing their own arguments. Encourage your students to expand those lists, brainstorming additional affirmative and negative reasons.

Ready to get started? Let's browse through some intriguing creative topics for persuasive writing!

Time Traveler: No Return Ticket!

In a clandestine government facility far below the Nevada deserts, the scientists of the Special Projects Division are ready to conduct the final test of a newly designed time machine. This device offers any traveler the chance to project himself or herself into the past to any place or moment. The only drawback to the device is that the time traveler is limited to the past only, with no chance of ever returning to the present day.
My Brother's Keeper

We all have responsibilities to others as well as to ourselves. A society functions when individuals choose to work together for the common good. Increasingly, however, it seems as though more and more people are becoming more self-oriented in their thinking. Poverty and homelessness are growing problems, and difficulties such as these can only be solved through the co-operation of all members of society.

The Adventurous Spirit

Once adventure ruled the world. Explorers embarked upon distant journeys taking them to parts of the globe that had never known the presence of people. Today there are few frontiers left to explore. Distance on our planet has shrunk to the extent that a person can travel to any locale on the globe within a day.

Your Assignment: Were the people of previous centuries really more adventurous than people are today? Is adventure lacking today, or has it become unwise and unprofitable to risk adventure?

Pros:

Life is "softer" today, which naturally leads people to be less adventurous.

People today are more interested in physical comfort, which leads them to being less adventurous.

People were more adventurous in the past, because there were more "unknowns" then.

People were forced to be more adventurous due to the lack of technology.

In the past, natural obstacles and barriers provided dangers that have disappeared today.

People today are less adventurous because there are few, if any, fontiers left to explore.

Cons:

People in the present day are just as adventurous. The type of adventure they seek has changed.

Technology has ushered in an age of artificial adventure, yet adventure still exists.

Note: What other pros and cons can your students develop?

This is a growing collection of topics for persuasive writing. As I develop more persuasive writing topics, I'll add them to this page. Sign up for the creative writing blog at the left, so you're notified when the newest ideas, lesson plans, and activities are published. I hope these topics for persuasive writing generate lively debate and discussion among your students, as they improve their writing skills!